Early Reader – Page 22

Vocabulary the Dickens Way – Cozy Classics’ Great Expectations

Posted on December 22, 2015December 21, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Cozy Classics: Great Expectations, by Holman Wang and Jack Wang (March 2016, Chronicle Books), $9.95, ISBN: 9781452152431

Recommended for infant-3 years

The brothers behind one of my favorite board book series, Star Wars Yarns, is back with their Cozy Classics series, this time, tackling Charles Dickens. But seriously, don’t sweat it – they’re teaching our wee ones vocabulary, using their adorable felted yarn figures and words related to the Dickens’ tale. Words like “boy”, “help”, “manners”, and “old”, set against the backdrop of the Victorian epic, give extra feel to the words. I particularly love Pip – the “boy” – standing on the first page of the story. Parents will love it, kids will think it’s something cool (because it is). “

Miss Havisham illustrates the word “old”. With her tattered dress and her worn expression, young readers will see that old takes on many meanings – the dress is old, Miss Havisham is old, and are those cobwebs surrounding her in that picture? Explain that cobwebs form when something hasn’t been moved or dusted in a while.

Naturally, Estella is “pretty”. See Pip staring at her from behind the wall? That speaks volumes – she’s pretty, and Pip has a crush on her.

There are about 12 illustrations and words in Cozy Classics: Great Expectations, with great words that aren’t sight words – it’s a real chance to expand kids’ vocabulary. The Wang brothers’ art is amazing – my Star Wars Yarns books are never on the shelf here at the library – and I think it’s time to bring some Cozy Classics to my home and work libraries.

I love this classics to teach concepts trend. BabyLit does it, Cozy Classics does it, and Mini Myths teaches kids Greek myths on a level that makes complete sense in today’s world. The books make for great storytimes, and you can get moms, dads, and caregivers to pick up a grown-up book, too – pair up your board books with their companion grown-up titles for a heck of a list!

Early Reader, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Mexican Folk Art and Concepts meet with Animal Talk!

Posted on December 22, 2015August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Animal Talk: Mexican Folk Art Animal Sounds in English and Spanish, by Cynthia Weill/Art by Rubi Fuentes and Efrain Broa (March 2016, Cinco Puntos Press), $14.95, ISBN: 9781941026328

Recommended for Infants-5

Animals talk in all sorts of languages! Animal Talk translates animal sounds in Spanish and English, using beautiful folk art to illustrate the concepts. It makes sense that different languages would interpret animal sounds differently, after all – when an English speaker hears a cat meow, a Spanish speaker hears a cat miau. A rooster greets the dawn in the U.S. by hollering, “cock-a-doodle-doo!”, and in Spanish countries, he calls out, “ki-kiri-ki!” It’s a wonderful way to see how sounds are the same, yet different, between two cultures.

I love this series. Doctor Cynthia Weill has written several concept books featuring Mexican folk art, including Opuestos, Colores de la Vida, and ABeCedarios. Animal Talk is her fifth book in this series, and it’s a fantastic addition for a library like mine, in a neighborhood densely populated with Central and South American families, and it’s a great library addition to any library where you have little ones ready for a storytime. The artwork is breathtaking. Mexican folk art is vibrant, lively, and bright – eye-catching to little eyes and minds! Animal sounds make for great storytimes; teaching animal sounds in different languages makes for even more fun. It lends itself to a great interactive experience!

The books themselves are works of art; not even an exaggeration. Craftsman Rubí Fuentes and Efraín Broa from the Mexican state of Oaxaca create these beautiful images, and you’ll want to buy an additional book just to frame the artwork in here.

One thing I desperately need is for these books to come out in board book. They’re beautiful hardcovers, but I’ve got lots of little hands that would get even better use out of them if moms, dads, and librarians didn’t have to worry about torn pages so much.

Put this in your animal storytime, and throw in a round of Old MacDonald Had a Farm while you’re at it – and make the animal sounds in both languages!

Cynthia Weill’s author webpage features a video about the artists who made the wood carvings for her book, Opuestos. Show this video to your older patrons and students to show them the work that goes into these beautiful books. Take a look at more of the gorgeous art from Animal Talk right here!

Animal Fiction, Early Reader, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Uncategorized

Olga da Polga – a favorite classic comes to Kane Publishing!

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Olga da Polga, by Michael Bond/Illustrated by Catherine Rayner (Oct. 2015, Kane Miller Publishing), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1-61067-433-1

Recommended for ages 6-10

The creator of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond, introduced Olga da Polga, an adventurous guinea pig with a bit of sass, in 1971. I don’t remember this book when I was growing up, so I’m not sure whether these were originally published only in the UK, but there are both picture and chapter books full of Olga’s Adventures! Kane Miller Publishing recently brought Olga back to readers with this beautifully illustrated edition. Greenaway Medal winner Catherine Rayner adds beautiful watercolor artwork to this collection of stories that new readers and their parents will love and want on their shelves.

Olga da Polga is a guinea pig who wants to go on adventures. She wants out of the pet store! She gets her wish when she’s adopted by the Sawdust family – that’s what she calls humans – who builds her a her own hamster run in their garden. She goes on adventures in the family’s backyard and meets the local wildlife, including Noel the housecat, Fangio the hedgehog, and Graham, the tortoise. Stories encompass all the seasons, also lending themselves to great seasonal storytimes.

Olga da Polga is one of those books that I feel like I missed out on, and that I need to get on the shelves here at my library to make sure today’s kids meet Olga and her friends! Give this to kids who love their animal fiction – Paddington fans, naturally; Olivia fans, and Corduroy fans can move up to Olga da Polga and enjoy another group of stories about a plucky little guinea pig and her adventures. Kids reading the EB White trilogy (Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, Trumpet of the Swan) will love Olga, too. The short chapters/stories provide for great read-aloud opportunities.

You can get your own copy of Olga da Polga at the Usborne books website. Amazon offers the book through independent sellers.

Early Reader, Fiction

Casey’s Bright Red Christmas – Perfect for Blaze & The Monster Machines and Cars Fans!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Casey’s Bright Red Christmas with Tillus & Friends, by Holly Dufek/Illustrated by Paul E. Nunn (Dec. 2015, Octane Press), $14.99, ISBN: 9781937747619

Recommended for ages 4-8

Casey and the team is getting ready for Christmas! But Casey still has so much to do and she’s getting a cold – can the team work together to give Casey a hand and get the farm ready for Christmas?

This is the sweetest story about friendship and teamwork. Holly Dufek and Paul E. Munn write and illustrate the Casey & Friends series for Octane Press, a publisher of books on racing, adventure, architecture, and collectible farm tractors. The Casey & Friends series introduces kids to farming and farm equipment, pairing nonfiction with a fictional group of friendly characters to explain and educate.

In Casey’s Bright Red Christmas, we see the team come together to help a sick Casey – who shows kids how much work goes into maintaining a farm! – get ready for the holidays. The chores are there and need to be done before the fun of decorating and celebrating, after all! The artwork is appealing, with anthropomorphic farm machines that kids will take to easily – my 3 year-old loves Blaze and the Monster Machines and Pixar’s Cars/Planes movies, so the book appealed to him right away (and I simplified the text to make it a quicker read for his attention span). The kids (ages 2-5) at my Christmas storytime enjoyed talking about the farm and loved the machines (and the parents were happy to get a cookie recipe at the end of the book!), so I’d say the book is a hit all around.

The text is easily adaptable for a younger audience with a short attention span, and is a good step toward a longer story for kids in Kindergarten and first grade. Pair this with a good Christmas book, share the cookie recipe, and sing some Christmas carols! It’s a fun stocking stuffer, for anyone still looking for those last few gifts. And since car and truck books do gangbusters in pretty much any children’s collection, it’s a great one to add to your own library’s wish list.

Early Reader

Do You Hear What I Hear? Vintage Art helps create a symphony!

Posted on November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Do You Hear What I Hear?, by Helen Borten (May 2016, Flying Eye Books/Nobrow), $17.95, ISBN: 9781909263857

Recommended for ages 4-8

A companion to Ms. Borten’s Do You See What I See?, Do You Hear What I Hear?, also published in 1959, introduces children to the effects different sounds can have on them.

“Loud sounds make can me feel fierce as a lion and as explosive as a firecracker. The sound of the circus fills me with excitement. I hear animals roaring, music blaring, people shouting, hands clapping, peanut shells cracking, and balloons bursting.”

Accompanied by her beautiful artwork, these images have texture that help kids unpack the sensations described in the text. The frenetic atmosphere of the circus is captured in the many lines stabbing the spread; the cords holding up the big top and the trapeze wires; the motion of the swinging trapeze artist and the balloons, and the animals walking across the pages.

Originally published in 1959, Mr. Borten’s beautiful, vintage artwork adds texture to the basics: lines, color, and shape, whether it’s by adding swirls to an ocean full of fish or wispy, thin spider webs above the thick bars of a lion’s cage. Ms. Borten artwork and evocative text inspires children to see the world around them “as a great big painting, full of lines and shapes and colors, to look at and enjoy”.

This is a great book to read out loud, then talk about the different sounds and feelings kids associate with them. I know the sizzle of a grill makes me think of summer, and I can feel the warmth on my skin and taste the tart lemonade just thinking about it, and the scent of a box of crayons makes me feel excited, like I’m ready for the first day of school all over again. Have kids draw what different sounds make them think of, or describe them. I’ll be adding this book to my family storytime rotation for sure.

Do You Hear What I Hear? isn’t out until May, but take a look at some more of the beautiful art from the book, and pre-order from Amazon. Check out the publisher’s website for more picture books, and take a look at some of the outstanding artwork from Do You Hear What I Hear, below.

Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads

Spotlight On: A Halloween Scare at My House!

Posted on October 29, 2015October 11, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

From the opening invitation to a Halloween Scare t0 the Halloween-motif endpapers, A Halloween Scare at My House is a perfect read-aloud for toddlers to Kindergarteners! Check out the Sourcebooks Spotlight below, with the chance to win your own copy of the book!

A Halloween Scare at My House Series, by Eric James/Illustrated by Marina Le Ray

Series Info:
Title: A Halloween Scare at My House
Author: Eric James
Illustrator: Marina Le Ray
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Description:
The perfect gift for every child or kid-at-heart who also loves celebrating the most eerie and thrilling night of the year, the Halloween Scare regional series offers a jaunty tale with a humorous bent—sure to ward off any creature who goes bump in the night in cities and states across the country!

Now with 78 titles highlighting different cities, states, and regions in the U.S. and Canada, each book in the Halloween Scare series features art and text created especially for a specific state or city. Fun Halloween creatures and critters haunt your favorite landmarks, including famous sites like the Statue of Liberty in New York, California’s Hollywood sign, the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, Churchill Downs in Kentucky, the San Jacinto Monument in Texas and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina.

With its bouncing rhyme, colorful illustrations, and funny story, the Halloween Scare series is a delightful Halloween adventure for everyone who loves a silly, spooky tale. It’s perfect for younger readers who can explore their state or city and little learn more about the places and landmarks that make their homes unique.

Prepare, if you dare, for a Halloween scare,
A night of pure terror to whiten your hair.
A tale full of sights that are best left unseen. You ready? You sure?
This was my Halloween.

About the Author and Illustrator:

Eric James is a children’s book author, word tickler, and champion asparagus thrower. You can find him online at http://www.ericjames.co.uk. He lives in Bath, England, with his family.

Marina Le Ray has had success both as a children’s book illustrator as well as a greeting card designer. She lives and works in Nantes, France.

My two cents: This is an adorable book. The fact that it’s customized for different regions of the states makes it a great choice for read-alouds and for classrooms that want to incorporate some fun into their Social Studies curriculum. Leave time in a lesson to talk about Halloween in your cities, versus traditions from other cities. The rhyming text and story about a little boy who overcame his fear of Halloween and monsters will draw kids in, so don’t be afraid to read with different voices, make spooky sounds, and invite the kids to shriek and moan along with you. Halloween storytimes are the best storytimes ever!

Buy Links:
Available at all major booksellers

Don’t forget, enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win your own copy!
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Early Reader, Fiction

Olive & Beatrix – a fun Easy Reader chapter series!

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders (Olive & Beatrix #1),by Amy Marie Stadelmann (Aug. 2015, Scholastic), $4.99, ISBN:9780545814805

Recommended for ages 5-8

Olive and Beatrix are twin sisters, but they’ve got one thing that makes them very different – Beatrix is a witch, and Olive is more of a scientist. To get back at prankster Beatrix, Olive and her best friend, Eddie try to play a prank on Beatrix involving spiders, which backfires in a BIG way!

This is a fun, new Easy Reader chapter book series; part of Scholastic’s Branches line for newly independent readers. There are bright, colorful pictures on every page, bold, easy to read text, and an interesting, fast-paced story loaded with excitement and humor. There are even discussion questions at the end fo the book, to spur some conversation. Scholastic is offering a nice PDF excerpt of Olive & Beatrix on their Branches website, so you can check it out for yourself before you buy.

I really like the Branches books. I’ve got a few of the series on my library shelves, including Eerie Elementary, The Notebook of Doom, and Lotus Lane. The kids love them, and the fact that they’re easy chapter books really helps bridge that Easy Reader-Intermediate gap I sometimes find my readers experiencing. Plus, I’ve got kids coming in, younger and younger, asking for “spooky stories”. This will be a big addition to my Easy Reader shelves for those brave little readers!

This is the first series for author Amy Marie Stadelmann, but she’s got a great resume – she works on Nick Jr. preschool programming! She’s worked on shows like The Wonder Pets and Team Umizoomi, so she knows what kids like and she knows how important learning and literacy is. Check out her author website for a look at her illustration portfolio.

Non-Fiction

Coco and the Little Black Dress is an inspirational story

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Coco and the Little Black Dress, by Annemarie Van Haeringen (Sept. 2015, North South Books), $16.95, ISBN: 9780735842397

Recommended for ages 6-10

Raised in an orphanage, Coco Chanel may have started life off in a decidedly life, but she learned life skills and developed a drive for success that propelled her to the heights of high fashion. Coco and the Little Black Dress tells the story of Coco Chanel’s rise to fame, beginning with learning how to sew, embroider, knit, mend, and crochet at the orphanage. She befriended the wealthy and powerful as she got older, and decided to change to outlandish and uncomfortable clothing the women wore. Starting with a pair of jodphurs for herself, she began making beautiful hats and comfortable, loosely fitted knits for women, freeing them from corsets. She created a perfume that smelled “like a beautiful woman” and finally, her crowning achievement: the little black dress – “the magic dress that shows how beautiful a woman is.”

It’s always a relief to see a biography for younger children about a strong female figure, and Coco Chanel certainly fits the bill. She was a self-made woman who gave women the ability to be free of uncomfortable clothing, to embrace their figures. The endpapers lead us right into Coco’s story, providing an early dress design at the beginning and a finished black dress to leave us with.

Author Annemarie van Haeringen is a three-time Golden Brush Award winner; Coco and the Little Black Dress, previously published in German, won the silver in 2014.

Early Reader, Non-Fiction, Preschool Reads

It’s a great day for A Visit to the Library!

Posted on September 10, 2015September 9, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Visit to the Library, by Mary Lindeed (Aug. 2015, Norwood House Press), $21.95, ISBN: 9781599536910

Recommended for ages 4-7

Take a trip to the library! Read a book, listen to a story at storytime, and use the computer! See what the librarian does, and check out a book! This Easy Reader is a great introduction to the library for young audiences and readers. There are vivid photos and informational, large print text, plus sight words and vocabulary at the end of the book. Activities round out the book and provide a neat little lesson for kids who are about to start using the library through school, maybe without a parent for the first time.

I’m going to read this with my preschoolers at my next storytime as a way to introduce them to the library, and talk with them about using the library. Norwood’s website suggests pairing At The Library with its fiction counterpart, Dear Dragon Goes to the Library by Margaret Hillert. Teachers may want to consider this pairing for a pre-library visit warmup, and parents could borrow this to read to their children in anticipation of a library visit.

A great addition to nonfiction collections.

Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads

Spotlight Tour: Max the Brave by Ed Vere

Posted on September 1, 2015August 24, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Max is a fearless kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a kitten who chases mice. There’s only one problem—Max doesn’t know what a mouse looks like! With a little bit of bad advice, Max finds himself facing a much bigger challenge. Maybe Max doesn’t have to be Max the Brave all the time…

Join this adventurous black cat as he very politely asks a variety of animals for help in finding a mouse. Young readers will delight in Max’s mistakes, while adults will love the subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor of this new children’s classic.

Ed Vere is an author, artist and illustrator with a long track record of success in the picture book category. Max the Brave was named one of The Sunday Times’s 100 Modern Children’s Classics. His book Bedtime for Monsters was shortlisted for the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize and Mr Big was chosen by Booktrust as the official Booktime book for 2009 (and was distributed to 750,000 British schoolchildren, making it the largest single print run of a picture book). Vere was the World Book Day illustrator for 2009.

Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway to win a copy of your own! (Contest runs Sept. 1-Oct. 31.)
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Social Media:
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNbrpUVunE
Website: http://books.sourcebooks.com/maxthebrave/
Activity Kit: http://sourcebooksftp.com/Email/MaxTheBrave/MaxTheBrave-ActivityKit.pdf
Educator guide: http://sourcebooksftp.com/Email/MaxTheBrave/MaxTheBrave-EduGuide.pdf
Twitter: @ed_vere, @jabberwockykids